Twelve ascetic practices
Twelve ascetic practices (Tib. སྦྱངས་པའི་ཡོན་ཏན་བཅུ་གཉིས་, Wyl. sbyangs pa'i yon tan bcu gnyis; Skt. pāṃśadhūtaguṇa, Pal. dhutanga)[1] — twelve practices of conduct pertaining to the shravaka yana that avoid the two extreme forms of lifestyle, over-indulgence in sense pleasures[2] and excessive self-punishment. They are:[3]
- Wearing clothes found in a dust heap,
- owning only three robes,
- wearing felt or woolen clothes,
- begging for food,
- eating one’s meal at a single sitting,
- restricting the quantity of food,
- staying in isolation,
- sitting under trees,
- sitting in exposed places,
- sitting in charnel grounds,
- sitting even during sleep, and
- staying wherever one happens to be.
Notes
- ↑ In the Pali scriptures there is mention of thirteen practices. See Dhammadana
- ↑ This is rather a free translation of 'dod pa bsod nyams kyi mtha' (Adam).
- ↑ According to The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism, 'twelve ascetic virtues', vol. 2, p. 169